Sunday 18 • 31 Jul 2016

Hosea 11:1-11Colossians 3:1-11Luke 12:13-21

Rev. Chris Udy

The parable Jesus tellsin our reading from the Gospel for todayis not a comfortable story -it’s one of that group of passages in Luke's Gospelwhere the commitment to live as Jesus lived -and living in Australia’s most affluent city -comes into conflict.There's not one of usthat this story doesn't apply to,and most of usare probably much richerthan the rich man in the parablecould ever have imagined.

But this story is not meant to condemn us.The person who told the story is Jesus -and the reason he tells storiesis not to trap people, but to set them free.So we need to look at what the parable says,and find the freedom in it.

There are really two stories in the passage.The first is about two brotherswho have a dispute over their inheritance.You can imagine the background.The brothers had probably beenin competition all their lives,over everything from their share of the foodto the best way to run the farm.The competition had been fierce and serious -the older brother frightenedthat his younger brotherwould steal his position in the familyand his father's affection,the younger feelingthat he was growing in his brother's shadow,and that whenever good things were given out,he got less than he deserved.

When their father died,the older brother received more from the willthan the younger brother thought was fair -but by now the issue wasn't the land,or the money, or the belongings.Those things are just symbols -and both brothers had interpretedtheir share in the inheritanceas a sign of their father's respect and love.

By now it was too lateto change things much at all.Dad was gone,and all that was left to fight forwere the symbols -so the younger brother set offto find someone in authority -someone a bit like his Father -to put things right -to tell him he was OK.

A rabbi - a teacher- a man with authority -came into town,and the man sought him out -"Teacher" - he said - "tell my brotherto divide the inheritance with me!".But Jesus refused.He said"Who made me a judge between you two?"and he told a parableabout the foolishness of greed.

The second story is that parable.

There was a manwhose land produced a good harvest.The work he did was successfuland the return he had from his workwas more than he needed to live.His good harvest had given him a choice.Since he had received more than he needed,he could either share his good fortune,and give some of his excess to someone else,or he could keep the extra return he had received,and store it up for himself,just in case tomorrow's harvestwasn't as good as today's.

Wealth is choice -that’s what it means to be wealthy -but the rich man never considered his choice -he never recognised his freedom.All he saw was his problem:having more than he could use -and his automatic reactionwas to keep what he had for himself,to make certainthat his future would be comfortable and secure.

For a long time, when I read that parable,I had the impressionthat the man then set to workto build his barns –investing a lot of his good fortuneand taking on a long and messy building projectto protect his excess -and I always saw a kind of irony in that:the rich man invested all that effort for nothing.But that's not what the parable says.

The man didn't even begin his building project.All he had done was make his decision -and as he sat backfeeling pleased with himself,God said "You fool!This very nightyour life will be demanded from you.Who then will getwhat you have prepared for yourself?"

The parable Jesus tellsis not only about affluenceor about working on futile projects -it’s about choices.The focus is not on what the man owns,but on that point of decisionwhere the man had powerto choose what would happenwith the extra resources he had been given.

The tragedy of the parableis that the rich man never saw his choice.He never even considered the possibilityof doing something otherthan protecting and preserving what he hadfor himself and himself only.The irony of the parableis that when he thought he was choosinga secure and comfortable future -he was in fact choosinga future of loneliness and isolation.This man is so alone that he talks to his soul.

Christian attitudes to possessions and wealthare based on two affirmations:

The first is that everything this world has -everything it produces and everything it contains,is a gift to us from God.God made it; God gave it to us to enjoy,and God expects us to use it wisely and justly.

All through the Old Testamentthere's a kind of horrorat the idea that some of God's peoplecould sit getting slack and lazyas they consumed more of God's provisionthan they needed,while others of God's peoplewere dying of starvation,or left without shelter.The prophets taught Israel to react to affluencewith the kind of discomfort we feelwhen we see pictures on TV at tea-timeof children dying of hunger in the Sudan -and the reason for the anger of the prophetswas that selfishness and greed aren't necessary.God had always providedeverything his people needed,and God would keep doing that -God was faithful, reliable,even when God’s people weren't.

If the prophets came back now,many things would have changed.Despite some peoplewho seem to enjoy telling ushow poorly the world is doing,and who have a highly romantic view of history,the world really is a much better place than it was.We are learning to understandthat finding a just balancefor the world's resourcesisn't just a nice idea -but that every inequality in the world affects us.Sometimes we try to liveas if the problems don't exist,or as if we have no power to find solutionsbut we know we're fooling ourselves,and when we understandthat the world’s destructive divisionsare not as much about race, or religion, or cultureas they are about centuries of exploitationof the very poor by the obscenely rich,then we know we'll never really be satisfied,and our work will never really be complete,until all of God's childrenlive with dignity and with hope.

But if the prophets did come back now,they could still speak with confidenceabout one thing.It’s still truethat poverty and inequality in the worldare not problems of production,but of distribution.God's gift is as generous todayas it always has been,and there is much more than enoughfor everyone in the worldto eat well,to drink clean water,to live in adequate shelter,and to be educatedto make a contribution to the world's life.

There is much more than enough.

But many people make the choiceof the rich man in the parable -some don't even see the optionsthat their wealth provides them,and that's sad -but others know the good they could do,and choose to reject the options they can see -and that goes beyond sadness to culpability.

So - that's first affirmation -that everything the world has is a gift from God -a gift to be enjoyed, and to be shared.

The second affirmationis that life before dying is not all there is.Christian faith is built on the convictionthat dying and rising is the way that life works,and that dying opens the doorto a new dimension of life,where the vision of God’s realmhas found fulfilment.

Building on that understanding,Christian faith also saysthat some things in this lifecontinue beyond death,and that what we are building nowwill continue long after we die.

First, our relationship with God begins now,and continues beyond death.Through prayer and worshipand the life of the Spirit,something of God's nature is planted in us,and all that shares God’s nature never dies.

And as other peoplealso share in God’s nature and Spirit,our relationships with peoplehave eternal significance.It makes no sense to treat people like things,and indulge in throw away relationships,because people continue with us -the good and the evil we do stays with us,so we might as well start learninghow to get on with them.

Responsibility continues beyond death.We will be answerablefor the way we live -we are accountable,and we will examinedfor our use of God’s gifts.

Putting all that togetherleads us to a very simple conclusion.Since God and other people continue with us,it makes sense to invest in them.Since the material things we haveare fragile and perishing:bodies, clothes, houses, cars,money, possessions - everything, -it makes sense to use these transitory thingsto build up those aspects of life that will continue.

Jesus told his parable as a warningto the man who was fighting his brotherfor a bigger share of the inheritance.The man’s connection with his brotherwould continuelong after both had gone to join their father -and choosing to squabble for an inheritancewas a very short sighted decision.

The parable was remembered and retoldand passed onbecause generation after generation of Christianshave come to understandthat our awareness of freedom comeswhen we discover that we have a choice.

We live in a society that’s losing freedom,because people no longer seethat they have a choice.The values that they are presented withare the values of the market place.Politics is no longer about a vision for community,but about economic managementand financial power.Schools and universities are less and lessplaces of exploration and learning -they offer training and a ticket to get a job.Insurers and health care providersare told to maximise profitability -and people with chronic illness are a real bother.Even churches sell themselveswith promises of miracles for wealth or healing.

But when the value of a lifeis reduced to a dollar amount,everything reduces into numbers;options and choices disappear -and everyone is trapped.

Jesus offers us freedom.He says we can make choicesabout how to use the richness of our harvest.We can live by values that affirmthere's something more important than survival.In Christ we can choose to trustthat God continues to bless the earthto give us enough and more than we need,so we can see our affluence as an invitationto build relationships that have eternal quality.We can trust that God’s generosityis as fundamental to God’s natureas God’s demand for justice -and we can live by our convictionthat life is to be measured in waysthat can't be described with numbers.

Knowing that we have choiceswill then change us -we'll get frustrated with building barnsand putting up walls and fences,and we'll exercise our freedomto live as generously as God does.It might start small -maybe by contributing to ‘Simple Love’or the ‘Give Hope Winter Appeal’,or making a donation to the Christmas Bowlor supporting Lent Event,but over timeand as our appreciation of our freedom grows,we'll discover that life is betterwhen we live with open hands,when we set a longer tableand share nourishment and timeto build friendships that will last for eternity.